George Karl and Denver Nuggets are in contract-extension talks

No, Carmelo Anthony is still looking elsewhere, but coach George Karl wants to end his career in Denver – and steps are being taken to make this happen. Karl, his representation and the Nuggets have begun preliminary contract extension talks with the coach, and it appears that it would be a multi-year deal. The 59-year-old Karl, in the last year on his contract, has publicly said for years that he wants to retire as the Denver coach – and retire in Denver.

“I think this is a situation where George wants to be in Denver and the Nuggets want him in Denver,” said Bret Adams, Karl’s agent and longtime friend. “We’ve certainly had those conversations about the directions that everybody wants to go and we’ll start exchanging proposals next week.”

Adams has been impressed by new Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri, who will be representing the Nuggets in the talks.

“I have great respect for Masai and the way he’s handled himself since he come on board,” Adams said. “And I look forward to working with him in doing the extension.”

The Nuggets sent a press release to the media, explaining that contract talks were underway – a rare divulging and thus a positive sign that Karl could get locked in for future seasons.

“We’ve said it from Day 1 that George is our guy and we want him here for a long time,” Ujiri said in the release from nuggets.com. “George is a future Hall-of-Famer. He has earned a contract extension.”

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.